Yume
by Corran Griffin
Summary: The god of the Naruto world doesn't like how things end up, so he conscripts a teenager from our world to change things, hopefully for the better. The only problem: the guy chosen has never heard of Naruto before.
1. Prologue

A.N. Hello everyone, I'm back with a different story. This one takes place in the Naruto universe. Hope you like it, and please try to review! Oh, a warning: If you don't like powerful SI characters you should stop reading. Now on with the tale!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Sandman.

Rated M for swearing

Yume

By Corran Griffin

Prologue

Corran entered the mall with a spring in his step. Yesterday had been his 16th birthday, and he decided one of the first things to do with his new-found mobility would be to take a trip to the local mall's anime store. Some of his more distant relatives had sent him some money, so now he only had to decide on what to buy.

Nearing his favorite store, Corran noticed that it seemed to expand since the last time he was here, or so he thought, since directly next to it was another store, which also prominently featured anime. Deciding to check it out, Corran moved up to the window of the new place.

_Hmm, _he thought. _I don't recognize this anime. _In the windows were displays depicting an anime called "Naruto." _It must have been just imported from Japan. They probably set up this new store to get people interested in it._

What Corran didn't seem to take note of was how everybody else appeared to walk by without noticing the place. Since he didn't notice the strangeness surrounding the store, he opted to get more info on this apparently new anime, so he headed into the store without a second thought. The moment he walked through the door he disappeared in a flash of light, closely followed by the exact same thing happening to the store.

oooooooooo

Corran was out like a light after the light flashed, so he wasn't able to see what happened next: his body, once unconscious, vanished from the store.

(Insert Stargate wormhole sequence here)

A new body appeared in another flash, lying sprawled out in the middle of a forest. This body, while still housing the mind of Corran, looked very different from before. For instance, instead of being 16 years old, it was now six. Another change – Corran's hair (formerly red) was now a pale shade of white. It remained the same length (down to his shoulders). His clothes, a t-shirt and jeans, were the same, but they had shrunk to fit his new body. The last two changes were the strangest. His skin tone, which used to have a healthy tan, was now as white as his hair. The most disturbing change, however, was his eyes. The entire eye socket area was now a deep black. There were no eyeballs, just an endless pool of darkness. This was the scene that a man in red robes came across as he was making his way back to his camp.

"What the hell?" the man thought out loud. "What's a brat like this doing all the way out here in the middle of nowhere? Damn it, I guess I'll have to bring him along with me."

The man picked Corran up and continued on his way, all the while muttering obscenities about weird albinos and how he was glad he normally didn't have to deal with kids anymore.

oooooooooo

Corran slowly came to, wondering what had happened. He glanced around. _What the fuck?_ he thought. He noticed that wherever he was, it must be somewhere near the ocean, because the only thing visible as far as he could see was some kind of mist.

"Nope, we're not by some ocean."

Corran's head whipped around, trying to locate the person who had just seemingly read his thoughts. His mouth fell open as his eyes settled on a huge gold bird with ten tails hovering a few feet away from him.

"What the hell are you, where the hell are we, and how the hell did you read my mind?" Corran yelled.

The bird fluttered down to, well, what would be the ground if there was ground in whatever place they were at.

"My name is Suzaku, and I am the almighty 10 tailed phoenix!" the bird stated with pride.

"Right. Care to explain a bit more?" Corran replied.

Suzaku sagged. "Yeah, I guess you wouldn't really know me or anything. Well, I'm assuming the last thing you remember was entering that new anime store, correct?" Seeing Corran's nod, the bird continued. "Well, that was all a ruse in order for me to get you to a different world."

"What the fuck!" Corran screamed. "Why would you do something like that to me?" He didn't seem at all amazed by this statement, which most people would take to be crazy talk. Of course, this was probably because there was a HUGE FREAKING BIRD right in front of him.

"Well, you could say I'm sort of the god of this world," Suzaku said nonchalantly. "I looked into the future and didn't like the way things were going to turn out, so I decided to find someone to try and make things better. You were the first one to notice my little test," Corran assumed he meant the store, "So now you're the one who gets to help me out."

"This is insane!" Corran said. "What could I possibly do to help a whole world?"

"I can't really tell you. Rules and all that. Anyways, aside from explaining this to you, there's another reason I'm talking to you right now." Suzaku waved a wing and a full sized mirror appeared nest to him. "Take a look at yourself."

Corran walked over to the mirror, looked in, screamed in shock, and abruptly fainted. The phoenix sighed and waited about five minutes for Corran to wake up. When he did, he jumped to his feet.

"What did you do to me?" he asked. "I look like a mini version of frickin Dream of the Endless, for god's sake!"

"Most of the people who you'll meet in this world will be ninjas. In order for you to be able to help out at all, you'll have to be trained to be one as well. Most kids start learning the skills when they're six, hence the age regression. As for your appearance, well for one thing, I know you liked that character. The main reason, however, is that there are certain families in this world with what's known as a "bloodline limit." These are certain skills that only a person of that family can use; it has to do with genetics. I decided I'd give you one in order for you to be better equipped. This involves your eyes."

"What eyes?" Corran muttered. Suzaku's own set narrowed.

"Moving along," the bird shot Corran a glare, "they're called the Saimingan."

"Hypnotism eyes?" Corran murmured. "Wait, how do I know what that means?"

"Everyone in this world speaks Japanese, so I just downloaded the language into your brain. Congratulations, you're now bilingual," Suzaku said dryly. "Your new eyes have four different levels. The first level enables you to put your opponent into a trancelike state for a limited amount of time. It's kind of like a battle of wills. If you have more willpower than the enemy, he'll be in the trance longer. If the opponent is significantly weaker than you, you might even be able to have a somewhat limited control of his actions. This level is signified by a glowing blue pupil-like dot in your eyes."

Corran nodded. "Sounds good so far."

"The second and third stages of your bloodline limit kind of tie in to each other. They're also indicated by a glowing dot: red for stage two, yellow for stage three. When you use level two, you can put your opponents to sleep. How deep and how long depends once again on their strength compared to yours. A weaker person could be easily put into a coma, whereas a stronger person would probably be in for a light nap, if even that. The third level is one of the most powerful techniques, and will require a lot of training on your part to achieve. Using this level, you can actually enter and control a sleeping person's dreams. Whatever you want to happen can and will. This will also reflect in the waking world. Not physically, of course, but psychologically." Suzaku gets an introspective look (if birds can look introspective, that is) on his face. "Now that I think about it, that level has a lot in common with the Mangekyou Sharingan…" he muttered to himself.

"And what would that be?" Corran asked.

The phoenix lord came back to himself. "The highest level of a different bloodline limit. Like I said, it basically does the same thing as your third stage, but the victim has to be awake, and the user has to look into his eyes."

"Okay. Anyway, you said my eyes have four levels. What's the last one?"

"Well, that's kind of a misconception. Once you gain the third level, the fourth will be unlocked as well. It's not as all-powerful as the third level or anything, but it's still cool. Anyway, what it does is allow you to create your very own little dream area. You don't have to be asleep to do this. I suppose since we're going with a "Sandman" theme here, you could think of it along the lines of the Dreaming. You'll be able to create whatever you want there, plus you'll be able to instantly transport yourself and anyone touching you there. A star shining brightly in your eyes signifies this last stage. Since this stage is always at least subconsciously active (in order to keep your dream world from disappearing), the star will appear every now and then even when you're not in your realm. Rather like the Dream King's eyes. Bye the way, that's where we are now. This mist is all that's here right now, obviously. You won't be able to get back and change things until you reach level four."

Lots of thoughts ran threw Corran's head, most of which went something like, _Cool, _or _Whoa._ He shook himself out of his daze and looked back at Suzaku. "Is there anything else?"

"Yeah, one more thing. When you wake up, you'll notice a man with you. I'd highly advise you to get ninja training from this man, as he's one of the strongest shinobi on this world. If he asks who you are, give him a fake Japanese name (to sound more realistic) and say you're a refugee from Hidden Sky village. That village was completely wiped out very recently, so he shouldn't have any reason to doubt you. Also, tell him you want to get to Hidden Leaf village for the Genin exam. This shouldn't be a problem either. Oh, and as one final gift from me to you, I'm going to directly insert some basic knowledge about shinobi and this world into your brain. It will hurt like hell and knock you out," Suzaku said, entirely too cheerfully. "When you wake up, you'll be in the real world. See ya!"

The phoenix disappeared in a blinding flash of light. Corran suddenly felt great pain. Screaming, he passed out once again.

oooooooooo

This time when Corran came around, he knew what to expect. Unfortunately, something he didn't expect was the pounding headache. He looked around and saw he was somewhere in the woods. There was a small campfire burning a few feet away. He groaned as he slowly sat up. _Damn bird,_ he thought bitterly.

"Ah, I see you're awake now, kid," a strange voice said. Corran glanced up and did a double take when he saw who the voice belonged to. It was a man probably in his fifties with long white hair and red paint below his eyes, looking somewhat like teardrops. He wore red robes and a forehead protector with the kanji for "oil" in it. From Suzaku's knowledge implant, he knew the forehead protector meant the man was a ninja.

_No way. He looks like a kabuki freak, _Corran thought, but he decided to give the guy the benefit of the doubt.

"… Yeah… Who are you?" questioned Corran.

The man leapt up. "Glad you asked!" He started to do a little dance. Corran sweatdropped. "I am the great Jiraiya, Mt. Myobokugama's holy master sennin, also known as the toad sennin! Remember it!"

Corran facefaulted, a hard thing to do when you're sitting down. For the second time since he woke up, he mentally swore at the phoenix. _I can't believe this is the guy I'm supposed to get to train me. He's an idiot!_

Jiraiya glanced down at Corran's body, which coincidentally looked like it was bowing to him. "I see," he said solemnly. "My presence obviously overwhelms you, so you feel the need to bow down to my greatness! If only there were more like you!"

Quickly getting to his feet, Corran yelled, "Hah! You wish! In fact, I'm trying my hardest not to pass out laughing at you! You're just some crazy old man." Jiraiya looked affronted. "I can't believe I was supposed to get you to train me," Corran accidentally blurted out. _Oh shit. Can't believe I said that._

Hearing this, Jiraiya got a skeptical look on his face and observed Corran carefully. _Right, as if I'm going to train another punk kid, _he thought. _And who would tell him to find me anyway? Not that it matters, of course. There's no way he could stand up to my training, even if I did decide…_ his thoughts abruptly derailed when he saw Corran's eyes. _What? No way! Impossible! That bloodline has been missing for at least a century! If that's real, I'll have to train him!_

"Kid, before I even think of training you, you need to tell me your name," Jiraiya ordered.

Luckily, Corran had picked out a name soon after being told by Suzaku to do so. "My name's Yume. Just Yume," the newly named albino informed Jiraiya.

"Dream, eh?" Jiraiya asked, rhetorically. _Damn! He doesn't have a family name, so I still don't know where his bloodline came from. _"Well brat," Yume scowled at the appellation, "You have interesting eyes. Do you know anything about them?"

They were both sitting back down by the fire again.

_What do I say? People will eventually find out. I might as well start with him. _"There supposed to be my bloodline limit. They're called the Saimingan. I was told they have four levels."

If Jiraiya was surprised at the knowledge of the apparent six year old, he didn't show it. _Hell in a hand basket!_ he swore to himself. _It really **is** that bloodline. Shit! I didn't want to teach some kid again! There goes my research time._

Yume watched in amusement as Jiraiya almost broke down crying. "Hey, old man! You gonna train me, or what?"

Jiraiya smacked Yume in the back of the head. "Dumb punk, I'm not old!" he growled. "But yes, unfortunately I'm going to train you. But first, tell me a little more about yourself."

Yume explained to Jiraiya that he was a refugee from Soragakure, whose entire family had been killed when the village was razed. Jiraiya gave him a sympathetic look, which Yume ignored, since none of that really happened. Jiraiya didn't know this, however, so he assumed that Yume was trying to be strong.

When Yume was through with his speech, Jiraiya clapped his hands. "Okay! It's too late for anything tonight, but in the morning, ho ho! You'd better be ready. You wanted my training, and that's what you're going to get, whether you like it or not." With that ominous statement, Jiraiya promptly slipped into his sleeping bag and fell asleep, leaving Yume staring at the fire. A few minutes later, the extra-dimensional albino decided to hit the hay as well. He looked for another sleeping bag, before realizing that having only arrived that day, there wasn't one for him.

"Damn it, old man! Where do **I** sleep?" The shout was heard for miles.


	2. Chapter 1

A.N. Here's the first real chapter of my story, for anyone who's actually reading it. Please, if you're one of those few, leave a review so I know what you guys and girls think.  
Reminder: This story involves a powerful SI character.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Sandman.

Rated M for swearing

Yume

By Corran Griffin

Chapter 1

**Six years later**

Two figures were standing in the woods a few miles from Konoha. The first was a tall, older man with long white hair in a ponytail. He was wearing red robes and a forehead protector. The second, smaller figure looked like he was just about ready to enter his teenage years. Like his companion, his knee-length pale white hair was tied back. He wore a white kimono outlined in red. Covering his hands were white, fingerless gloves that came up to his elbows. To complete the ensemble, a "Jedi-style" robe was worn over everything else (white, of course). The hood was up at the moment, but occasionally the sun would catch his face, revealing his two most prominent features: his chalk-white skin, and deep black pools where his eye sockets should be. The boy's only apparent weaponry was a sheathed-sword across the back of his waist, which was somewhat hidden due to the robe.

"Well brat," the taller man said, "This is as far as I go. I still don't know why you wanted to take the Genin exams. Thanks to my excellent teaching you're easily at Jounin level."

The boy sighed, as if they'd had this conversation before. "That may be, but technically I'm not even a ninja at the moment. You know that in order to actually become a shinobi I have to pass the Genin exams. Don't worry though; I don't plan on being a Genin for long." He glanced in the direction of the village. "You sure you're not going to come with me?"

"Yeah. If I return to the village now, odds are Sarutobi-sensei would rope me into doing more work than I already am." The boy snorted at this, and promptly got slapped upside the head. "Punk," the man muttered. "Anyway, I sent sensei a message telling him you would be there for the exam, but since we're a few days early, you should probably give him a heads-up."

Nodding, the albino bit his thumb and made some hand seals. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

A black raven appeared on the ground in front of him. It flew up and landed on its summoner's outstretched hand.

"Hey Yume. How've you been?" it asked, cocking its head to the side.

"Hello Matthew. I've been doing pretty well. You up to taking someone a message?"

"Sure; I've been pretty bored lately. What's the deal?" the raven replied.

"I need you to fly on ahead to Konoha and let the Hokage know I'll be there today, so he can inform the gate guards to let me in," Yume said.

"You got it, kid." And with that, the bird took off in the direction of the village.

The man shook his head. "I still can't believe you have a summoning contract at your age."

Yume shrugged. "Hey, I found it fair and square, and it's also partly your fault; you're the one who actually convinced Garuda to accept me as a summoner. Who would have thought that the name 'Jiraiya, holder of the toad contract' would have so much weight?" Yume snorted again. "Feh, more like 'Jiraiya, the old, perverted drunk.'"

"Give me some respect, brat!" Jiraiya growled, taking a swing at Yume, who smirked and easily dodged the halfheartedly thrown fist.

They lightly sparred using only taijutsu for a few minutes. Yume was quickly overpowered; he wasn't all that great at taijutsu, preferring to use his sword in close combat.

Jiraiya reached down and helped Yume back up.

"It's time for me to head off, kid. Hope you get a good Genin team. I'll be in town to watch the Chunin exam tournament in a few months, so you'd better be in it. I'd hate to be back for no reason." Jiraiya patted Yume's shoulder. "See ya then." He turned and headed off into the distance.

"Don't go peeking into too many hot springs!" Yume yelled after him. Jiraiya absently waved a hand and continued on his way.

oooooooooo

In Konoha's administration building, the Sandaime Hokage was going over some paperwork.

"Sometimes I really hate this job," he muttered, staring at the huge pile of papers in front of him. "What I wouldn't give for some sort of distraction."

As if bidden by his words, a pecking sound was heard coming from the office's window. Sarutobi glanced over and saw a large black raven knocking on the window with its beak.

"Shoo, bird," he said, while making brushing-away motions with his hands. "I don't need you putting a hole in my window."

"Well, if you'd just open it up and let me in, you wouldn't have to worry about that, would you?" the bird replied.

Sandaime blinked. "Eh?"

The raven nodded its head. "Yeah, you heard me. I've got a message for you."

The Hokage moved over to the window and raised it, allowing the bird to come inside. It then proceeded to flutter over to the Hokage's desk.

Sarutobi sat back down and looked at the raven. "I don't recall anyone with a bird summoning contract," he remarked, deducing that it had to be a summon, since it had the ability to talk.

"The contract was only signed recently. Actually, one of your students was the sensei of the kid who signed it."

Sarutobi gained an understanding look on his face. "So then your new summoner must be this 'Yume' I've heard so much about from Jiraiya."

"Yep. And I'm Matthew, by the way." The old man nodded. "Anyway, I'm here to tell you that Yume arrived sooner than expected, and he'll be at the gates soon."

A grin appeared on the Hokage's face. "That is good news. I've been wanting to meet him for a while now. I'll order the guards to send him to my office when he shows up. Thank you, Matthew." The raven inclined its head and poofed out of existence.

oooooooooo

"Finally!" Yume said as the gates guarding the entrance to Konoha came into view. "I hope Matthew spoke to the Hokage, or I could be in for a little trouble." He came to rest in front of the gates.

"Halt!" an ANBU guard yelled from above. "State your name and business!"

"My name is Yume," the albino called up. "I'm here to take the Genin exam."

"Oh yes, you're Jiraiya-sama's apprentice, aren't you? The Hokage said he wanted to meet with you as soon as you arrived," the purple-haired ANBU informed him. "My shift's ending, so I can show you where it is."

The gates opened, and Yume entered Konoha. _Looks a lot better than some of those run-down towns that sensei and I visited._

The ANBU guard appeared in a puff of smoke in front of him. "If you'll follow me, I'll guide you to Sandaime-sama's office," she said.

A few minutes later, they showed up at the administration building.

"Thank you, ANBU-san," Yume said while bowing.

"Your welcome, but please don't call me that. My name is Uzuki Yuugao."

Yume straightened and nodded. "Very well, Uzuki-san. Until we meet again." He turned around and walked into the building.

The first person Yume looked for after entering the building was the Hokage's secretary. Finding a likely candidate, he walked up and asked, "Is the Hokage in right now? I'm Yume, and he mentioned he wanted to see me."

The secretary looked up and said, "Yeah, he's in his office. It's through that door. You can go right in."

"My thanks." Yume headed into the office. Its only occupant was an old man wearing white robes and a large red and white hat with the kanji for "fire" on it. From Jiraiya's descriptions, Yume knew this was Konoha's Sandaime Hokage.

The man looked up from his mountain of paperwork. "Ah, you must be Yume," he said with a smile. "I've been wanting to meet you for a while now, and between you and me, I'm thankful for any excuse to get away from this," he said, waving a hand at the papers covering his desk.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Sarutobi-sama. Jiraiya-sensei has told me a lot about you."

"No need to be formal, my boy. I get enough of that from everyone else."

"Thank god," Yume sighed in relief. He pulled down his hood and fell back into a conveniently placed chair. "I really don't feel comfortable acting like that, but I decided to make an exception for Konoha. However, since you said that, screw it. The people can just accept me the way I am, and if they can't, then they're not worth knowing."

"A wise attitude," Sandaime said sagely, as he examined Yume's features. Said person noticed his look.

"So did Jiraiya tell you about these?" he asked, while motioning to his eyes.

"Yes," the Hokage said, "But still, it's fascinating that a bloodline missing for so long is back, and in my village to boot. What level are you on?" he asked, curiously.

"Just the first," Yume admitted. "I hope to unlock the second soon, though. I've been able to use stage one for a few years, so hopefully level two won't be too far off."

"Do you think you could demonstrate them?" Sandaime questioned eagerly.

"I would, but you're the only person around, and I wouldn't be able to hold you very long…" he trailed off as someone jumped through the open window.

"Time to kick your ass, old man!" a short brunette boy yelled, launching himself at the Hokage. Sarutobi gave a long-suffering sigh and easily moved out of the boy's way. _I can't believe he's still at it. This is the tenth time today, and it's not even noon yet! _the old man thought.

The attacker, no longer able to hit his target, flew head-first into a wall. Yume stifled a laugh, bringing the boy's attention to him.

"K-k-k-konpaku!" the boy screamed when he noticed Yume. Suddenly his fear seemed to melt away. "You're the one who screwed up my plan, aren't you? I bet you used your spirit powers to make me miss the old man!" he yelled with righteous anger as he charged Yume.

Yume smirked. _Here's a perfect way to show Sandaime my ability._ Yume's eyes locked onto the boy's. The black pools flashed, and a blue dot appeared in each eye where the pupil would normally be. The kid immediately froze, his eyes clouding over and an absent look appearing on his face.

"Well Sarutobi, you said you wanted a demonstration. Here you go," Yume said.

"Yes, I see," the Hokage murmured, staring at the boy. "How long can you keep him like that?"

"For someone like him? Indefinitely. I could also have him do tricks if you want," Yume said with a grin. "Stronger people are a lot harder to deal with. Who is the brat, anyway?"

"That would be my grandson, Konohamaru. He seems to think that if he defeats me, he'll become the next Hokage."

"Really now? Huh. Well, what should I do with him?" Yume wondered.

"Just let him go, he can't really cause any harm, after all."

"Very well," replied Yume. His eyes flashed again, and the blue pupils vanished. The kid glanced around. One could almost see the huge question mark appear above his head.

"What the hell happened to me?" he yelled.

Sandaime laughed. "Yume here is our village's newest member. He was showing me one of his skills and you happened to be in the area, so he used you as the guinea pig." The aforementioned albino waved at Konohamaru cheerfully when the kid looked at him.

"So you're not a ghost?" Konohamaru asked. When Yume shook his head, he went on, "If you weren't using crazy ghost powers, what did you do to me?"

"Not much. Just put you in a trance where I could make you do whatever I wanted."

Konohamaru's jaw dropped. "Cool! Teach me that!"

"Sorry, can't." At Konohamaru's crestfallen look, Yume added, "It's a bloodline limit. You know about those, right?" The boy nodded, looking less sad.

"If you can do that, you must know some other kickass jutsus, so you can teach me those instead!" the brunette exclaimed, pumping a fist.

Whispering quietly so only Yume could hear, Sarutobi quickly said, "The boy's supervisor is sick today, and if you get him out of my hair I'll pay you for a D-class mission."

Yume, hearing this, nodded slightly then said to the boy, "Fine brat, but don't expect anything big."

Sarutobi added, "Why don't you go get your things and meet him on training ground seven in an hour?"

Konohamaru nodded and dashed out of the office, leaving a trail of smoke. Both the room's remaining occupants sweatdropped.

"What have I gotten myself into?" Yume muttered.

"Don't worry, he's not so bad once you get used to him," the Hokage replied, while inwardly laughing in glee. _Now I won't have to put up with anymore "sneak attacks" for the day!_ Yume was treated to the rare sight of Konohagakure's Sandaime Hokage cackling.

"…Okay. By the way, do you happen to have a map of Konoha? I don't really know where anything is."

Sandaime grabbed a scroll out of his desk and threw it to Yume. "Here. You can find training ground seven pretty easily. Also, if you need a place to live, there are apartments listed on the back."

Yume inclined his head in thanks. "Oh, take this," he said, pulling something out of his kimono and handing it to the old man. "This is my Fire Country bank account number. Just have the money for the 'mission' deposited there," he said. Sarutobi nodded and dismissed the soon-to-be-leaf ninja.


	3. Chapter 2

A.N. Well, here's chapter 2. I've turned on anonymous reviews, so hopefully some of you will actually review now.  
Reminder: contains powerful SI character

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Sandman

Rated M for swearing

Yume

By Corran Griffin

Chapter 2

Yume stepped out of the administration building and opened the map the Sandaime had given him. _Let's see, I was supposed to meet the brat at training ground seven… Ah! There it is. Won't take that long to get to. _He set off in the appropriate direction, gaining quite a few stares due to his skin tone and eyes.

When Yume arrived at the training ground, he immediately noticed the memorial stone. Most villages he and Jiraiya had been to in their travels had something of the like: some sort of monument to fallen heroes. Yume also noticed the man standing in front of the stone. He was a shinobi; that much was obvious since he was wearing a forehead protector and Jounin vest. He had silver hair that stood straight up, defying the laws of gravity. The bottom half of his face was covered by a mask and his forehead protector was tilted down to cover his left eye.

Yume shrugged off his robe and laid his sword on top of it before walking up to the man.

"You know," the man remarked without turning his head, "You really shouldn't just leave your things lying around like that."

"No worries, if anyone tries to take them, they're in for a nasty surprise," Yume replied.

The man turned around, and his visible eye widened at Yume's appearance. He quickly recovered and said, "I haven't seen you around before."

Shrugging, Yume responded, "I just got into town. I'm here for the Genin exam."

"Oh? And what makes you think you'll pass, having only arrived today?" the man questioned.

"Just because I haven't been here doesn't mean I haven't received training. I was under an apprenticeship with Jiraiya for six years."

Once again, the man's eye widened. "You were Jiraiya-sama's apprentice? Hmm, I suppose you're good enough then, or he wouldn't let you come here. Oh, where are my manners? My name is Hatake Kakashi."

"Ah, Jiraiya mentioned you. He told me you were a big fan of his. My name's Yume, by the way."

"Did he by any chance mention when his next book would be out?" Kakashi asked eagerly.

Yume sighed. "No, but feel free to ask him when he shows up for the Chunin exams."

"So he'll be back then? Great, I'll be sure to talk to him then."

Kakashi turned around and left the area, but not before pulling out a very familiar (to Yume, at least) orange book. He blushed and giggled at something in the book as he walked away.

"Who knew people were so open with their perverted-ness on this world?" Yume wondered aloud.

Yume ran through a quick unarmed kata while waiting for Konohamaru. He didn't have to wait long, as what appeared to be a horrendous attempt at camouflage showed up in the form of a square rock.

"I don't know who you're hoping to fool with that," Yume stated. "There's no way a ninja wouldn't see through it."

There was a puff of smoke, and the "rock" disappeared, revealing a short brunette boy wearing a yellow shirt and blue scarf.

"I knew you were good! That's why you're teaching me!" He looked harder upon seeing Yume without his robe. "You didn't tell me you were a girl!"

Yume facefaulted. "Damn it!" he yelled upon getting up. "I'm a guy! Your grandpa even told you that! Just because I'm wearing a kimono and have long hair doesn't mean I'm a girl! I'll have you know I can do a really cool jutsu with my hair this long!"

Konohamaru had a skeptical look on his face. "Really? Prove it!" he challenged.

"All right. Watch this!" Yume did some hand seals. "Ninpo: Hari Jizou!"

Yume's hair came unbound and grew until it covered most of his body, then it hardened and grew spikes.

"You see," Yume informed the boy from inside his protective shell, "Like this I'm protected from direct physical attacks. My opponent can't get near me, so taijutsu is ineffective when I have the Hari Jizou activated." He released the technique, allowing his hair to retract and re-bind itself so it was back in his normal ponytail.

Konohamaru was staring with his mouth open. "Wow! That rocks! Can I learn that?"

"Not yet. For one thing, your hair isn't long enough," Yume pointed out.

"So what are you going to teach me then?" the boy asked, impatiently.

"First of all, why do you want me to train you? Don't you already have a tutor?" Yume asked.

Sandaime's grandson made a face. "Yeah, but he's stupid and doesn't know anything. I'll easily be able to become Hokage if you teach me your cool jutsus!"

"That leads me to another question. Why do you want to become Hokage so much?"

"No one sees me for who I really am. They only see the Hokage's 'honorable grandson.' If I'm the Hokage everyone will have to acknowledge me as a person."

"Okay, I can sort of understand where you're coming from. But you know that there aren't really any shortcuts. If you want to take the Hokage's spot, you'll have to work hard for it."

Konohamaru scowled. "Yeah, I guess."

"Okay!" Yume clapped his hands. "On that note, let's get started. You know what chakra is, right?" The kid nodded. A smirk grew on Yume's face. "Good. What I'm going to show you is how to climb trees."

Now it was Konohamaru's turn to facefault. "What? I can already climb trees! What does that have to do with being a ninja?"

"Much to learn, have you, my young apprentice," Yume intoned, Yoda-like. "You know that jutsus require chakra. What you don't know is how to control that chakra to allow you to perform the jutsus to their fullest extent. Watch this."

Konohamaru paid close attention as Yume channeled chakra. "Okay. This is the first step. You have to concentrate your chakra into the bottom of your feet. Once that's done, you proceed to walk up the tree, like so. You have to be careful how much chakra you use. Too much, and you'll be propelled off the tree. Too little and you won't stick to it." Konohamaru stared in fascination as Yume walked directly up the side of the tree until he was hanging upside down by his feet from a branch.

"Voila!" Yume said from his perch. "Take this," Yume tossed the kid a kunai that was previously hidden up his sleeve. "Use it to mark your progress each time. It might be best if you start off running. Oh, and don't forget to jump off before you fall, otherwise you could hurt yourself," he added, flipping himself so he was now sitting on the branch.

Yume's new disciple picked up the kunai and assumed a determined expression. He gathered chakra in the soles of his feet and took a running start. He made it about two steps up the tree before falling on his back.

"Ah ha ha ha ha!" Yume nearly fell off his branch, he was laughing so hard.

"Shut up!" the brat yelled up to him.

"Sorry, kid," Yume snickered. "Just keep it up, you'll eventually get it. Sometime. Maybe. We'll see."

"I'll do it this time! You'll see!" Konohamaru ran back toward the tree. This time he made it up one more step before falling.

"Bwah ha ha!" Yume did fall off this time, but luckily he was able to catch the branch with the bottom of one of his feet, which he filled with chakra so he stuck to the tree and didn't drop the rest of the way. "Whew, that was close," he muttered once he resumed his seat. "C'mon kid, you'd better get it soon, you're becoming hazardous to my health!" he teased.

"Grr… Damn it!" the "honorable grandson" growled.

Yume hadn't been paying close attention, or else he would have noticed the person who had been watching them for the last few minutes.

oooooooooo

Ino was heading over to training ground seven. The ninja academy had just finished for the day, and she wanted to train her skills in preparation for the Genin exam. She wasn't doing it to impress Sasuke; contrary to popular belief, Ino didn't have those types of feelings for him anymore. She only kept up the act to rile up Sakura. Plus, the look on Sasuke's face when she acted like a fangirl was pretty funny.

When she got close to the area, she heard someone laughing. Ino immediately hid behind some bushes and tried to find where it came from. She was surprised to note that the laughter came from a strange-looking boy about her age sitting on a tree branch. It was only because she was a girl that she could tell the boy's gender. Ino heard another voice yell "Shut up!" She looked down and gasped when she discovered it came from the Hokage's grandson. She continued to watch as the younger boy channeled some chakra to his feet.

_What's going on?_ she wondered.

Ino saw the boy run towards the tree. _What's he trying to do…_ her thoughts trailed off as the boy actually **ran up the tree**. Not very far, mind you, but she'd never seen anything like that before, so it still surprised her. What happened next surprised her even more.

The albino boy had laughed himself off the tree! She was just about to run out and help him when he reached out with one of his feet. Ino's eyes bulged as the chakra-imbued foot stuck to the tree branch, and the boy's momentum swung him around the tree like a wheel around an axel. He came to a stop when he was standing on top of the branch. She saw him sit back down and mutter something, then tell the kid something about "getting it soon," and being "hazardous to his health." She could only assume he meant the tree walking.

_Who could that boy be? He must be good in order to train the Hokage's grandson! _she thought.

Deciding to find out who this new kid was, Ino left her hiding spot and walked towards both boys.

oooooooooo

Yume was sitting up in the tree watching Konohamaru curse under his breath. He sighed and jumped down to the ground.

"You know, I didn't get this the first time either," he admitted.

Konohamaru looked up. "Really?"

"Yeah, it took me a few tries, so don't worry. Remember, you're not even a Genin yet. This is really a higher level exercise than you should be able to do now, so even making it up a few steps was good."

"You think so?" the kid asked.

"Of course. Now why don't you go grab some lunch. I saw a ramen place on my way over here. I'll meet you there in a few minutes," Yume said.

"Sure thing, boss!" Konohamaru took off.

"Boss?" Yume said to himself. "What the hell?"

"I agree," he heard a voice say. "What were you doing?"

Yume turned around to see a girl about his age. She had long blond hair (not as long as his, though) in a ponytail. She wore a sleeveless purple dress. Bandages were wrapped around her waist and legs. She had pupil-less blue eyes.

_Damn it! _Yume thought. _I should have noticed her sooner!_

"Ah, hello. My name is Yume. Who're you?"

Ino flushed. When Yume turned to look at her, two things immediately stood out. The first was obviously his skin and eyes, which at first freaked her out a little. She got over it quickly, which led to her second thought… _He's so pretty!_

"I'm Ino," she said, still a little red. "Now are you going to answer my question?"

"About what the kid and I were doing?" Ino looked a little surprised at Yume's description of Konohamaru, but nodded. "Easy. I was attempting to teach him some chakra control. It didn't turn out that well. Of course, he is young and inexperienced, so I shouldn't expect much yet. For his age and skill level, he did a fairly decent job."

"How does walking up a tree teach chakra control?" Ino asked.

"I'm going to assume you're an academy student, correct?" Ino nodded. "Okay, then you know that different techniques require different amounts of chakra put into them in order for them to work right. What this exercise teaches is how to regulate how much chakra you use. Like I told Konohamaru earlier, if you use too much you get blown off the tree, but if you don't use enough you won't be able to get anywhere. Once this skill is learned, you can apply the basic idea to your other jutsus as well."

"How do you know all this? You're my age, but you're obviously not a student, since I've never seen you in class before," Ino interrogated.

"You're right, I'm no student. I actually only got into town earlier today. However I do plan to take the exam and become a Genin."

"And how will you do that if you're not a student?"

"The Hokage gave me permission. I've had training, so I should do alright," Yume mentally smirked at that understatement. "Anyway, I told the brat I was going to meet him for lunch. Wanna come along?"

"Um, I guess," Ino said, blushing again. They headed off in the direction of the ramen stand. "Why do you call him that, anyway?"

"Hmm? Actually, I didn't really pay that much attention to what I was calling him, but now that I think about it, it must be left over from my own training. My sensei was always calling me 'brat,' or 'kid,' or 'punk'… well you get the idea. He wasn't trying to be mean with it, that's just how the guy was. Sometimes I think he'd call anyone younger than him a brat," Yume chuckled, then paled (well, he would have, if it was physically possible). "Oh God, I hope I don't start to take after him in other things, too," he shuddered.

"Who was your sensei?" Ino asked, intrigued.

"Maybe you've heard of him," Yume said with a grin. "His name's Jiraiya."

Ino screeched. "You mean you had one of the Legendary Sannin personally train you? How? Why? I thought they all left the town to do their own thing after Orochimaru turned traitor."

"Just lucky, I guess," Yume said teasingly, as he avoided a smack from Ino.

She continued to pester him all the way to the Ichiraku's Ramen, to no avail. They arrived at the ramen stand and saw Konohamaru sitting at the counter, already eating a big bowl of ramen.

Yume stalked up to him. "What the hell is this, boy? You couldn't even wait for your poor teacher? What an ungrateful student I have!" he wailed, falling to his knees as crocodile tears poured down his face as he borrowed a tactic from Genma Saotome.

"It, it's not what it looks like!" the kid said, waving his hands in the air. The others in the crowd (Ino, Teuchi the ramen chef, and his daughter Ayame) looked vastly amused.

The tears abruptly disappeared as Yume stood up. "Nah, I'm just messing with you." He sat down next to Konohamaru, who now looked a little irked. Ino sat on Yume's opposite side. "Oh, this is Ino," he said, jerking a thumb at her. "Ino, this is the brat." Yume was the victim of a fist to the head, courtesy of his female companion.

"Idiot," Ino muttered. "Hi Konohamaru. Nice to meet you." The boy waved back.

"Ouch!" Yume said, pulling his head off the counter. "Damn violent women. I must have inherited sensei's curse. Better be careful, Konohamaru, or you'll be next."

"What was that?" came a pissed-off feminine voice from his left.

"Nothing, nothing!" Yume hurriedly said. He quickly turned to the chef. "Can I get a bowl of beef ramen, please?"

"I'll have a miso," Ino added.

They ate their meal in silence for the most part, only broken up by Konohamaru's slurping. Once finished, Yume broke the silence. "Hey Ino, I've been meaning to ask you, how come your eyes don't have pupils?"

Ino looked at him strangely. "You're one to talk," she retorted, referring to his unusual facial features.

"Heh, yeah, I guess," Yume replied. "Mine are a bloodline limit. At my level, I can put people into a trance."

"That's a handy skill. I really don't know why my family doesn't have pupils. We've been that way as long as anyone can remember."

"Ah well. I suppose it doesn't really matter. Well ladies and gentlemen, I'm off. I gotta find a place to live while I'm here, after all," Yume announced.

"You're not going to teach me anything else?" Konohamaru asked sadly.

"Not today, kid. Find me some other time and I'll show you something else, alright? For now, keep practicing on the tree-walking until you get to the top. Remember, don't bug your gramps for fights anymore. If you want to become Hokage you have to work hard for it."

Konohamaru nodded and ran off. _Probably going to meet some friends or something,_ Yume thought. He took out his wallet and slapped some money down on the counter. "That should pay for the food. Now, where's that map…" he trailed off. "Oh hell!" he exclaimed. "I left my robe and sword back at the training field!"

Ino smacked him upside the head. Again. "Are you absentminded or something? What if someone steals them?"

"Thankfully I don't have to worry about that. I'm just mad I forgot them."

The two made their way back to the field and just like Yume thought, his belongings were right where he left them.

"Ah, there we go," he said once he re-attached his sword and donned his robe. He noticed Ino giving him a weird look. "What is it?"

"Nothing." Ino shook her head. "It's just that you remind me of a ghost dressed up like that."

Yume snorted. "That's what Konohamaru thought too. When we first met he accused me of using 'crazy ghost powers' on him." They shared a laugh at that.

Ino glanced around. "So… I heard you say that you needed to find an apartment? Do you know where the good ones are?"

"Sandaime gave me a map with some apartments listed on the back. He didn't mention which ones were the best or anything, though."

"I could show you, if you want?" Ino asked hesitantly, looking at the ground.

"Really? That'd be great!" Yume said happily.

Ino looked back up and smiled, before grabbing Yume by the hand and leading him off towards the nicer places she knew.


End file.
